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Sunday, June 26, 2016

Flooding in WV - Nothing New

When
the news of devasting floods hit the airwaves this past Friday, I couldn’t
help but think, “Flooding is nothing new for West Virginia.”

More than forty
years ago, on February 26, 1972, one of the deadliest floods in U.S. history
occurred in southern West Virginia's Buffalo Creek hollow. It was reported that
negligent strip mining and heavy rain produced a raging flood. In a matter of
minutes, 118 were dead and over 4,000 people were left homeless. Seven were
never found.

The flooding
that struck Charleston, West Virginia, and the surrounding Kanawha Valley on
July 19-20,1961, was one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit the area.
Five adults and four children died in what was then called Magazine Hollow, and
22 people overall died from the torrents of water.

The flood that came the closest to home for
me was the Paint Creek Flood of 1932. Some of my earliest memories are stories
my parents and grandparents told me about this one.

Late in the evening, on July10th,
after a beautiful sunny day, the heavy rains commenced, accompanied by
lightening and thunder and didn’t let up. People began to realize it was
showing signs of flooding. They gathered their families and moved as quickly as
possible to higher ground. Some to old chicken houses and other out buildings
that had been built for their needs. Others relied on the kindness of relatives
who lived a few miles away from the creek that was on the verge of overflowing
its banks.

The flood caused widespread damage and at
least 18 deaths.

Many years later, after my grandmother
passed away, I had the opportunity to read the journal she kept as a young wife
and mother. She wrote about her family’s experience with that killer flood.
Here’s her account:

“One
terrible night in July of 1932, disaster struck. With little warning, there
came a heavy downpour. It rained and rained and rained. Thunder boomed and
great bolts of lightening lit up the sky like daylight. Before long, a huge amount
of water was rushing down Paint Creek. Faster and faster it went gaining speed
until it was strong enough to destroy everything in its path!

Melvin
was good at reading weather signs. We had survived severe storms in Alabama
before moving to West Virginia. Early on, he realized we needed to move to
higher ground. Gwen, then thirteen, was able to scale the steep mountain behind
our house on her own, Melvin carried Ben, six-years-old and I toted
four-year-old Jack on my hip.

We
stopped behind a huge boulder and watched in amazement as the waters rushed
past us down below. It was shocking to see large articles of furniture bobbing
up and down in the angry waters as they raced by; animals trying desperately to
swim to safety – in vain; whole houses and rooftops and all kinds of debris
speeding by as if they had an important destination. We heard screams and
people yelling their loved ones’ names. It was chilling!

We
hovered there in the safety of the boulder until daylight – the children
clinging to us – frozen in terror.

With the rising of the sun,
the storm subsided and the waters slowed to a trickle. We made our way back
home, wading through deep mud, not knowing what to expect.

Our
house was still standing, but filled with sludge – no longer livable.

Standing
ankle-deep in thick slimy mud – wet, cold, hungry and homeless – I lost
control. With my three children clinging to my legs, I cried out, “Sometimes it
seems that God Himself has turned away from us!”

We
set out for Kingston, a few miles up the creek, and stayed with my sister, Ann,
and her husband until Melvin got a job with the mines there and the company
rented us a house of our own.”

I wonder how many victims of this latest
West Virginia flood felt the way my grandmother felt as they watched their
homes and all of their belongings snatched away in seconds. One man on TV said
he had only the clothes on his back and didn’t even know where his house was!

The latest death toll is 26.

I was startled when I saw a comment on social
media that read: ”Does anything good ever happen in West Virginia?”

I'm sure good things happen in WV. Things just seem to happen. It's life and there's nothing we can do but accept it. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes in the south. Every area seems to have something. Great post, Peggy.